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Camera reporter suing for release of secret 1999 grand-jury record

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
10/18/2013 04:23:11 PM MDT

Updated:
10/18/2013 07:12:04 PM MDT

Patsy Ramsey speaks as her husband John Ramsey listens during a news conference in Atlanta on Aug. 29, 2000. In an interview with People magazine, John Ramsey dismissed as "just more drama" the Daily Camera's report that the Boulder County grand jury voted to indict the couple in 1999, but that then-DA Alex Hunter refused to prosecute. (Associated Press file photo)

JonBenet Ramsey (Camera file photo)

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett signaled Friday that he's ready to submit any secret grand-jury indictment in the JonBenet Ramsey case to a judge to review and release "as the court deems appropriate."

Garnett offered to file under seal "any such document in our possession" in a response to a ruling this week in the lawsuit brought by Daily Camera reporter Charlie Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press seeking the release of the un-prosecuted indictment of John and Patsy Ramsey on charges relating to their 6-year-old daughter's death.

After hearing oral arguments Oct. 11, retired Weld County Judge Robert Lowenbach ruled Thursday that releasing the document sought by Brennan would not be a breach of grand-jury secrecy rules, and ordered Garnett to show cause why it should be kept secret.

Garnett said Friday that his main concern in releasing any such documents was to ensure he followed Colorado law.

"We've tried to handle this in a manner so that my office does not violate any such (secrecy) requirement," he said.

The Camera reported earlier this year that the Boulder County grand jury investigating the Ramsey case voted in 1999 to indict the slain 6-year-old's parents on charges of child abuse resulting in death -- but that then-DA Alex Hunter refused to sign the document and prosecute the Ramseys.

The Camera is not a plaintiff, but supports the lawsuit.

In the response filed in court Friday, Chief Trial Deputy Sean Finn wrote that the DA's Office was willing to submit any such indictment to the court to make a determination as to whether it should be released.

Garnett previously rejected two requests by the Camera and Brennan seeking the release of the indictment under the Colorado Open Records Act.

Thomas Kelley, an attorney for Brennan and the press group, said Garnett's response paved the way for the court to release the documents.

"I think it shows that (Garnett's) interest is solely in complying with grand jury rules and that he believes that the court should decide whether this indictment should be disclosed and has permitted the court to do that without further delay -- and for that I applaud him for that," Kelley said.

JonBenet Ramsey was found dead Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of her family's Boulder home, 755 15th St., several hours after Patsy Ramsey called 911 to say her daughter was missing and that a ransom note had been left behind.

In October 1999, more than a year after the case went to a grand jury, then-DA Hunter announced that the grand jury investigation had come to an end and that no charges would be filed due to a lack of evidence.

But in January of this year, the Camera reported that members of the grand jury confirmed they had voted to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey and that Hunter had refused to sign the indictment, believing he could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Finn noted that the 3-year statute of limitations on the charges in the reported indictment would have expired long before Garnett came into office.

"Our refusal focused on our concerns related to the legality of such a disclosure, particularly where an individual may have been accused but never formally charged," Finn wrote. "That concern seems particularly relevant where, as here, there can be no prosecution for the charges."

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